Switchback
by paotot
Summary: She just wanted to run away from it all. And he just wanted to run along with her.
1. Running Away From It All

Cold, chilly air greeted the young, dark-haired woman as she stepped out of the airport's glass sliding doors. Outside, taxis, cars of all shapes and sizes and even more people were waiting. They were to strangers to her, and she, a stranger, even an alien to them. She wasn't born in their country's soil, but she was willing to be a part of it, just for the sake of moving on.

Just for the sake of being able to let go of her past.

She thought she would be free from her past once she left her native home of Japan. It was cowardly, she knew. She knew that running away from your troubles, instead of facing them, is not the right way to go. But she has had enough. The guilt, the pain, everything was killing her. And she knew, that if she had stayed longer, she would have killed herself by now. It was one of those few moments that Tomoyo was very thankful that she had a friend like Sakura Kinomoto.

"Excuse me, young lady."

Tomoyo Daidouji snapped back to reality as she was pushed aside as throngs of people started coming out of the airport terminal. She didn't realize she had been standing there, staring into space, for the last three minutes. Annoyed and embarassed, she made her way into an awaiting taxi.

* * *

The dark-haired lass was trying hard not to breathe through her nose. The taxi's air freshener made her want to puke. And the driver's reckless driving was not helping her. Instead of complaining, she just took her hanky from her coat pocket and covered her nose and mouth. 

"Where to again, miss?"

Tomoyo, now pissed off beyond belief, decided to answer the man for the umpteenth time. "Heathrow Lodge." Dammit, don't tell me we're lost!

The ever-reckless driver made a sharp turn that made Tomoyo almost roll out of her seat. The driver seemed indifferent and just continued to drive. Tomoyo just wanted to get out.

* * *

Tomoyo took in as much air as she could as soon as she got out of her temporary prison. Tomoyo felt guilty for negatively thinking about the taxi driver and for silently cursing him.The man seemed TOO old to be driving a taxi and he seemed rather nice when she paid for her bill. 

_"You're not from here are you?" The driver asked as Tomoyo handed him a few bills and coins._

_Tomoyo just shook her head and gave the man a small smile. She was still uncomfortable about her English-speaking skills._

"Miss Dai..douji?" The receptionist at the front desk asked, unsure of how to pronounce her name.

"Yes?" Tomoyo just snapped out of her reverie, yet again.

"We have an available room. The last one in fact. Check-out will be 12:00 PM tomorrow." The receptionist added professionally as she gave Tomoyo the set of keys to her room.

"Thank you."

The room was decent. It had a bed, a drawer, a television, a telephone. The bathroom was simple, no special decorations, just...a bathroom.

This was going to be Tomoyo's home for awhile. Unless she finds a job, she won't be able to check-out for awhile.

She put her luggage in the corner of the room. Travelling by plane, then getting a taste of hell can be very stressful. Still with all her clothes on, she lay down the bed.

* * *

_"I can't believe this! Of all people! You!" Daidouji Sonomi shouted angrily as she paced around the room. What she had just heard could have been lie. It must be a lie!_

_"Okaa-san..." Tomoyo started. "I'm a grown woman now. I can take care of this."_

_"But our reputation...Tomoyo, how could you!"_

* * *

Tomoyo opened her eyes. Somehow, sleeping seemed like not a good idea. 

It was almost twelve midnight. The air outside was colder, and the streets, with the exception of the cars parked outside the lodge, was empty. The friendly receptionist said that there was a good pub down the road, just a short walk away. So now, here she was, walking down alone the paved sidewalk, the pub's bright sign a stark contrast against the still darkness of the night.

The pub was decent too. The drunk costumers were surely sent home, giving the pub a more safe atmosphere. When Tomoyo entered the pub, she couldn't help but feel conscious about herself. She could feel the eyes of the testosterone-gifted costumers on her, as if they were checking her out and it didn't make her comfortable at all. She sat on a bar stool and kept her eyes focused on the bottles of wine and beer behind the counter. Even when she had turned away, she could still feel the hungry eyes of rather drunk men.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

"What do you have?" Tomoyo said. Her english was rather stiff if compared to the standards of the British, but, coming from Japan, where "engrish" is wide-spread, it was already impeccable.

The bartender shrugged. He was drying newly-washed glasses.

"A beer then."

"Comin' up."

Poor service, Tomoyo thought. She looked around, careful to not look directly at any drunk guy. She realized that the pub has a very cozy atmosphere. With wood panellings on the walls and couches on some of its corners. The drapes were dark-colored and the lamps mounted on the walls provided insufficient light but it was appropriate for the theme the pub seemed to take. Oddly, it reminded her of her own home.

"Here you go." The bartender said as he placed a tall glass in front of her and poured the whole bottle's contents into it.

Tomoyo was suddenly glad the bartender broke her train of thoughts. She was thinking again about...

"I'm John, by the way." The bartender said as he held out his hand.

Tomoyo stared at his hand, dumbstruck. She was thinking way too much.

John, feeling that Tomoyo was not interested, took back his hand.

"Oh! I'm Tomoyo." Tomoyo, this time, was the one who held out her hand. She gave him an apologetic smile and they shook hands. It was simply an innocent gesture, just platonic.

"That's an odd name. Are you from Korea or something?" John asked.

The amethyst-eyed girl shook her head. "I'm from Japan."

"You speak english quite well for someone from there. And I see you're not carrying one of those...what do you call 'em? Travelling guides or something?"

Tomoyo was silent.

"Well--I-I didn't mean to be offensive. I'm just saying that--"

"Hey, John." A deep, masculine voice called.

"--Oh, hey!" John called back, fogetting about his little apology to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo, confused of what was happening, just stared.

"Well, my shift is over." John said as he did a little salute to Tomoyo and went away. Tomoyo just took a sip from the huge glass of beer in front of her.

I think I'm going insane, Tomoyo suddenly thought.

Just then, a new guy came, taking John's place. He was quite tall, with what looked like a lean chest and his shoulders were broad. Unlike John, the new guy wore glasses, had really pale skin and had really dark hair. He reminded Tomoyo of a vampire, but then she realized, both of them were quite the same.

"Do you need anything?" He asked.

Tomoyo didn't realize she had been staring until he spoke to her. "Uh, nothing. Thanks."

"Don't mind John. He's just too friendly." The new bartender said with a smile.

"Y-yeah." Tomoyo replied, smiling too,

"I'm Eriol. Eriol Hiiragizawa. You?"

His name sounds Japanese. "U-uhm...Tomoyo. Tomoyo Daidouji."

"Are you from Japan?"

Tomoyo nodded.

"Wow. Actually, I'm of Japanese ancestry too. My father's Japanese. My mom's British." Eriol said as if they were old friends.

There was silence. Tomoyo didn't know what to say so she took a huge gulp from the beer in front of her.

"So..." Eriol started, trying to fill up the awkward pause "are you on vacation?"

"Not really..." Tomoyo actually felt comfortable talking to this guy. Maybe it was the beer...

"Actually," Tomoyo, feeling rather lighter than usual, started "I just arrived awhile ago. Then I had to take this taxi ride with a driver from hell..." Tomoyo hiccuped. She took another huge gulp of beer. "You know, I actually ran away from Japan. I got some money from my Okaa-san--"

"Okaa-san? You mean 'mother'?"

" --then my friend gave me a plane ticket for London. I took it without much thought, and here I am now." Tomoyo hiccuped again. She took another huge gulp from her glass of beer.

Wow, Tomoyo thought, I'm seeing double.

"Hey Tomoyo--"

And she blacked out.

* * *

"Ow--" Tomoyo said as she opened her eyes. 

"Hey--" She heard a masculine voice say.

Her vision was unbelievably blurry and her head hurt a lot. Then she felt a hand slap her cheek softly.

"Hey. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Uhh..."

"Hey," She felt a hand slap her softly again. "how many fingers am I holding up?"

"I-I don't know..." Tomoyo managed to say. And she felt darkness take over her senses once more.


	2. A Shelter From The Storm

**Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or any of its characters.**

* * *

"I think she hit her head too hard," Eriol said to John, who just arrived for his shift. 

They were looking at the sleeping girl who had a swollen bump on her head.

It was already late into the morning and there were hardly any customers. The pub was open for 24 hours, so Eriol coudn't leave his post to send Tomoyo home or to whatever place she's staying in.

"Is she still alive?" John asked. "I mean, we might not know it but she could be in a comatose right now."

"Of course, she's alive. She just hit her head," Eriol said, unsure. John raised his brow. "Hard." Eriol continued. "And she did wake up a few hours ago, then she slept again."

"So...what are you going to do with her? Take her home?" John asked, looking at Eriol with interest.

"Well..."

"She is one beautiful woman. I'm sure she'll make one amazing--"

"I-I'll just take her to the lodge." Eriol replied but not without blushing.

"What! And let a beauty like her go! I think you've become bloody insane!" John went over to Eriol's side and put his arm around his shoulders.

"You know," John started, his face serious and straight, "I've known you for quite a long time now, and I swear, I can now read you like a bloody book." He looked at Eriol straight in the eye. "Think about the things you could do with her."

The older, blonde man gave Eriol a pat in the back. "Think about it."

Eriol just stared at John. The man knew him like the back of his palm. He was like his older brother. If it wasn't for that man, Eriol wouldn't even have the job he had now.

His sapphire eyes then went to Tomoyo's slumbering figure. Despite the bump she had on her head, she had a face of an angel. No--scratch that. She had the face of a goddess. The woman in front of him held the image of Aphrodite.

Eriol sighed. He stretched his arms over his head, feeling the knots in his back disappear. He knelt and picked Tomoyo up. Now, they looked like a newlywed couple who just came back from their honeymoon and the sweet wife was dead drunk and asleep.

Just as Eriol started moving towards the door a small moan escaped Tomoyo's lips. Eriol froze. Tomoyo started moving her head, and the moment after that, she had opened her eyes.

John, taking notice of Eriol's unmoving state, rushed to his side. The next image he saw was priceless--a rather embarrassed Eriol with a very confused Tomoyo in his arms.

Looks like we have a lot of explaining to do, John thought.

In a small bar somewhere in England, a young Japanese lass was nursing a rather large lump on her head, a British middle-aged man was drying newly-washed glasses with a dish towel, and a young and a rather red half-Japanese lad was having the time of his life staring at the bar's wooden floor.

It was a rather awkward situation. Two long-time friends now responsible for an intoxicated Japanese woman. No one was talking, the squeaky sound of the glass being cleaned occassionally breaking the silence.

"Can I have more ice?" Tomoyo asked. The icebag sagged in the clutches of her delicate hands.

"Give me a minute," John set down the dishrag he had been using. "Eriol, you take over."

Tomoyo thought she heard some grumbling from Eriol. And being Japanese, she knew Eriol said something about John being a 'baka'.

John left and Eriol took his place. Tomoyo had her eyes trained on Eriol as he made his every move. He, Tomoyo noticed, seemed more stiff and uncomfortable than last night. She realized it must have been because of the incident awhile ago because that had been pretty embarrassing, especially for her. Imagine getting drunk during the first night of your stay in a foreign country and then wake up the next morning only to find yourself in the arms of the bartender who had served you the night before. Tomoyo felt her cheeks warm. And she passed out only after drinking half a mug of beer! The alcohol here is too strong, Tomoyo reasoned with herself. John came back with a bucket full of ice.

"Here ya go," John said with a silly grin on his face. Eriol continued to wipe the glasses clean.

"Thank you," Tomoyo said politely. Before she could reach out for her icebag, John snatched it away.

"So where are you staying?" John asked, trying very hard to hide the curiousity from his voice. Of course it didn't work, Tomoyo noticed right away.

"At the inn uphill," Tomoyo replied, almost nonchalantly. When the clock strikes at twelve in the afternoon, there wouldn't be any place she could go home to.

"When will you be checking out?" John's being too nosy, Eriol thought. In the back of his mind he somehow felt John was coming up with something he wouldn't like.

"Later at noon," Tomoyo was getting uncomfortable with all the asking. She didn't really want to be reminded of the fact that she would be homeless in a matter of hours.

"Then where will you be staying after you check out?" John asked again. Eriol sensed Tomoyo's discomfort. She looked uncertain. "Why don't we talk about this another time?" Eriol cut in. "I'm sure Tomoyo wants to get some rest." Tomoyo looked like she didn't need any rest. John didn't look convinced. "Oh, she looks perfectly fine!" He started, "You're the one who needs a break!" Eriol rolled his eyes. "Just say what you want to say, John." The bespectacled young man said with a sigh.

John smirked, an evil glint momentarily appearing then disappearing in his eyes. He faced Tomoyo. "If you're looking for a place to stay, Eriol has an available room in his flat." Eriol looked baffled. "What!" He was suddenly up on his feet; for the first time in his life, he felt like killing someone. Tomoyo felt even more uncomfortable. "I-I don't know if that's--" This time, it was John who cut in. "I'm sure Eriol wouldn't mind."

In a bus stop somewhere in England, a young woman with long, wavy hair and a young man with glasses stood. Luggages sat beside the young woman's legs, a backpack slung on the young man's shoulder. A bus approached, and the young man helped the young woman with her bags. Both of them settled down, an uncertain look on the young woman's face and an unreadable expression on the young man's.

* * *

Tsuzuku 

Gomen for the really short chapter. High school is a monster who lives on innocent human beings. By the way, I'm an innocent human being. Anyway, feel free to drop a review for li'l old me. Reviews make me happy. Flames don't, but if you want to flame me, feel free to do so. Ciao!


End file.
